Articles written by Nicola Rowe

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About me - Nicola Rowe

I'm a wandering Kiwi, a New Zealander who has spent most of the last fourteen years living overseas. I love words in any language, and I understand them in English, French, German, Swedish and Italian; I can't think of anything more fun than speaking foreign

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Jobs & Careers > Jobs & Careers (Other) Why optimists make better employees: 1 of 6
Having Pollyanna in the next cubicle would get on the best-intentioned employee's nerves after a while. But it makes sense for the boss to have hired her: according to psychologist and author Martin Seligman, optimists make better employees than their pessimist colleagues. A common-sense platitude? Not quite. Seligman, who ma... More..
Business > Business Strategy Tips for developing strategic alliances: 1 of 5
Before you enter into a strategic alliance, you need to make sure that you and your partner are a good fit for each other. You should check three kinds of fit: strategic fit, capability fit, and organizational fit. Let's look at each of these in turn.First, you want to make sure there's a strategic fit between you and your pa... More..
Business > Staffing Issues The art of recruiting new staff: 3 of 14
Want to know how potential employees will perform in a new job? Apply the SAO L formula: Situation Action Outcome Learnings to mine their past behavior and predict how well they will perform with your company.The first step is to think of a situation you expect the new employee to encounter at your company and match it with a... More..
Jobs & Careers > Jobs & Careers (Other) What is it like to work in the strategy department of a corporation?: 1 of 2
Thinking that strategists are the right-hand men (and, rarely, women) to captains of industry, you might want to head for the strategy department of a multinational BP, say, or Roche. And you'd find others there who thought the same: alumni of McKinsey, Bain and BCG. But here's the secret: they're clamouring to get out.How ca... More..
Business > General Management The best employee performance management systems: 1 of 2
I once worked for a firm that made a point, in its recruiting material, of stating that it only hired top performers. But the firm was able to work magical transformations on these top performers. Once through its doors, a certain percentage of them were transformed, by virtue of performance ratings along a forced curve, into... More..
Business > Management (Other) Why boards of directors are not good at appointing CEOs: 1 of 1
CEOs can be remarkably short-lived so much so, in fact, that consulting firm Booz Allen once called them "the world's most prominent temp workers". Doug Ivester, promoted from number two and successor to Roberto Goizueta, lasted two years and two months at Coca-Cola; Robert Nakasone held out for a year and a half at Toys R Us... More..
Jobs & Careers > Business & Professional Jobs The role of the corporate chief strategy officer (CSO): 1 of 1
Corporate strategy is a beast of uncertain provenance, in theory falling within the bailiwick of the board and in practice within the purview of the CEO. Against this background, the chief strategy officer (CSO) a particularly 21st century role cuts a curious figure. Certainly the CSO is a respected figure General Motors has ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory How the recession will affect working women: 1 of 1
The dotcom crash was in full swing, and my cohort and I were like lambs: bright, cheery, and ripe for the slaughter. Investment banks and consultancies alike were shedding junior staff by the bucketload "not a layoff," the head of one firm's office memorably explained, "but a quality-based cleansing of the staff portfolio." B... More..
Autos > Autos (Other) Why Daimler should stop making the Smart car: 1 of 1
It looks like a liquorice allsort on wheels, like what might happen if Swatch and Mercedes got together to make a car which is, of course, exactly how the Smart started. When the pint-sized car revved up its engines for European market entry in 1997, it turned heads, both in the street and in the press gallery. Eleven years l... More..
Business > Business (Other) How to evaluate a company's corporate governance: 1 of 1
Need to quickly assess the governance structures in place in a company or association? One successful model you can use is the 1T-7S framework, which enables you to quickly check for potential areas of concern. You can use this model if you're called in to evaluate a company's governance, or if you want to know whether your o... More..